Author: Neil McGill GorsuchPublisher: Princeton University PressISBN: 9780691124582Size: 69.84 MBFormat: PDF, ePub, DocsView: 4604Download
After assessing the strengths and weaknesses of arguments for assisted suicide and euthanasia, Gorsuch builds a nuanced, novel, and powerful moral and legal argument against legalization, one based on a principle that, surprisingly, has largely been overlooked in the debate; the idea that human life is intrinsically valuable and that intentional killing is always wrong. At the same time, the argument Gorsuch develops leaves wide latitude for individual patient autonomy and the refusal of unwanted medical treatment and life-sustaining care, permitting intervention only in cases where an intention to kill is present.

Author: Michael BessPublisher: Beacon PressISBN: 0807066621Size: 47.70 MBFormat: PDF, ePub, MobiView: 3410Download
A panoramic overview of biotechnologies that can endlessly boost human capabilities and the drastic changes these "superhuman" traits could trigger Biotechnology is moving fast. In the coming decades, advanced pharmaceuticals, bioelectronics, and genetic interventions will be used not only to heal the sick but to boost human physical and mental performance to unprecedented levels. People will have access to pills that make them stronger and faster, informatic devices will interface seamlessly with the human brain, and epigenetic modification may allow people to reshape their own physical and mental identities at will. Until recently, such major technological watersheds--like the development of metal tools or the industrialization of manufacturing--came about incrementally over centuries or longer. People and social systems had time to adapt: they gradually developed new values, norms, and habits to accommodate the transformed material conditions. But contemporary society is dangerously unprepared for the dramatic changes it is about to experience down this road on which it is already advancing at an accelerating pace. The results will no doubt be mixed. People will live longer, healthier lives, will fine-tune their own thought processes, and will generate staggeringly complex and subtle forms of knowledge and insight. But these technologies also threaten to widen the rift between rich and poor, to generate new forms of social and economic division, and to force people to engage in constant cycles of upgrades and boosts merely to keep up. Individuals who boost their traits beyond a certain threshold may acquire such extreme capabilities that they will no longer be recognized as unambiguously human. In this important and timely book, prize-winning historian Michael Bess provides a clear, nontechnical overview of cutting-edge biotechnology and paints a vivid portrait of a near-future society in which bioenhancement has become a part of everyday life. He surveys the ethical questions raised by the enhancement enterprise and explores the space for human agency in dealing with the challenges that these technologies will present. Headed your way over the coming decades: new biotechnologies that can powerfully alter your body and mind. The possibilities are tantalizing: * Rejuvenation therapies offering much longer lives (160 and even beyond) in full vigor and mental acuity * Cognitive enhancement through chemical or bioelectronic means (the rough equivalent of doubling or tripling IQ scores) * Epigenetic tools for altering some of your genetically influenced traits at any point in your lifetime (body shape, athletic ability, intelligence, personality) * Bioelectronic devices for modulating your own brain processes, including your "pleasure centers" (a potentially non-stop high) * Direct control of machines by thought, and perhaps direct communication with other people, brain-to-brain (a new dimension of sharing and intimacy) But some of the potential consequences are also alarming: * A growing rift between the biologically enhanced and those who can't afford such modifications * A constant cycle of upgrades and boosts as the bar of "normal" rises ever higher--"Humans 95, Humans XP, Humans 8" * The fragmentation of humankind into rival "bioenhancement clusters" * A gradually blurring boundary between "person" and "product" * Extreme forms of self-modification, with some individuals no longer recognized as unambiguously human From the Hardcover edition.

Author: Michael BessPublisher: Icon BooksISBN: 1785781022Size: 70.13 MBFormat: PDF, ePubView: 259Download
Biomedical research is changing the both the format and the functions of human beings. Very soon the human race will be faced with a choice: do we join in with the enhancement or not? Make Way for the Superhumans looks at how far this technology has come and what aims and ambitions it has. From robotic implants that restore sight to the blind, to performance enhancing drugs that build muscles, improve concentration, and maintain erections, bio-enhancement has already made massive advances. Humans have already developed the technology to transmit thoughts and actions brain-to-brain using only a computer interface. By the time our grandchildren are born, they will be presented with the option to significantly alter and redesign their bodies. Make Way for the Superhumans is the only book that poses the questions that need answering now: suggesting real, practical ways of dealing with this technology before it reaches a point where it can no longer be controlled.

Author: David RakelPublisher: Elsevier Health SciencesISBN: 1437735673Size: 24.25 MBFormat: PDFView: 3621Download
Edited by Robert E. Rakel, MD and David P. Rakel, MD, Textbook of Family Medicine remains your #1 choice for complete guidance on the principles of family medicine, primary care in the community, and all aspects of clinical practice. Ideal for both residents and practicing physicians, it includes evidence-based, practical information to optimize your patient care and prepare you for the ABFM exam. The full-color format features a clean, quick-reference layout that makes it easy for you to put information to work immediately in your practice. You can also access the complete contents online at www.expertconsult.com, plus 30 videos of common office procedures, additional chapters on timely topics, and figures, tables, and photographs that supplement the text. Prepare for success on the ABFM exam with complete coverage of all aspects of family medicine. Access information quickly with an efficient, full-color layout that makes it easy to apply the latest knowledge in your practice. Take advantage of today’s most useful online resources with a convenient list of outstanding clinical websites. Quickly spot "Best Evidence Recommendations" with special boxes located throughout the text. Glean helpful tips on diagnosis and therapy from "Key Points" boxes found on every page. Access the complete contents and illustrations online at www.expertconsult.com - fully searchable – plus additional figures, tables, and photographs online, as well as online-only chapters that cover topics such as prescribing nutritional supplements and botanicals. View 30 videos online covering common office procedures such as vasectomy, the proper use of today’s diabetic equipment, and endometrial biopsy. Gain a new understanding of the patient-centered medical home and how to achieve this status in outpatient clinics. Make the most effective care decisions with help from "Evidence vs. Harm" icons that guide you through key treatments of common medical conditions.

Author: Wesley J. SmithPublisher: Encounter BooksISBN: 1594038562Size: 77.49 MBFormat: PDF, KindleView: 1125Download
When his teenage son Christopher, brain-damaged in an auto accident, developed a 105-degree fever following weeks of unconsciousness, John Campbell asked the attending physician for help. The doctor refused. Why bother? The boy’s life was effectively over. Campbell refused to accept this verdict. He demanded treatment and threatened legal action. The doctor finally relented. With treatment, Christopher’s temperature—which had eventually reached 107.6 degrees—subsided almost immediately. Soon afterward the boy regained consciousness and was learning to walk again. This story is one of many Wesley J. Smith recounts in his award-winning classic critique of the modern bioethics movement, Culture of Death. In this newly updated edition, Smith chronicles how the threats to the equality of human life have accelerated in recent years, from the proliferation of euthanasia and the Brittany Maynard assisted suicide firestorm, to the potential for “death panels” posed by Obamacare and the explosive Terri Schiavo controversy. Culture of Death reveals how more and more doctors have withdrawn from the Hippocratic Oath and how “bioethicists” influence policy by posing questions such as whether organs may be harvested from the terminally ill and disabled. This is a passionate yet coolly reasoned book about the current crisis in medical ethics by an author who has made “the new thanatology” his consuming interest.

Author: Nancy R. HooymanPublisher: Allyn & BaconISBN:Size: 26.28 MBFormat: PDF, ePub, DocsView: 6057Download
Presents the diversity of the aging experience and the older population in an interdisciplinary manner. Reviews major demographic, historical, and cross-cultural changes and their implications for the field of social gerontology, then looks at biological, physiological, and psychological changes of